Technology, education and trust: the three keys to building community resilience today and tomorrow
Paraguay is a country known for its heat. In the summer, temperatures can reach up to 45 Cº, but with the climate crisis, thermometers can reach unimaginable levels.In the last 40 years, heat waves in the country have increased threefold and in communities such as Santa Ana and Barcelona II in the city of Asunción. This means more droughts and fires that threaten the wellbeing of the inhabitants.In addition to the extremes of summer, there are the extremes of winter. During the rainy season these same communities are often submerged by flooding, forcing many families to move temporarily to other neighbourhoods or areas of the country."We live on the banks of the Paraguay River and, at certain times, there is a lot of flooding and my community and others nearby are completely under water", says Domingo, a resident of Santa Ana. “In addition, there are many people who fill the land with rubbish and layers of soil that can easily become a source of fire.”.Even in the midst of adversity, these communities dream of a future in which climate resilience is not just a goal, but a way of understanding development and organising the lives of neighbourhoods, communities and entire countries.This dream, although it seems ambitious, could be possible thanks to initiatives such as the one that Paraguayan Red Cross, IFRC and Irish Aid are promoting in Paraguay. Expanding Early Warning and Early Action is a project that seeks to strengthen the capacities of communities to prepare for and respond to disasters, promoting long-term climate resilience.But what would Santa Ana and Barcelona II look like if they were 100 per cent climate-resilient communities?In the ideal future, people in these two places would not be exempt from the effects of disasters, but they would have the tools to anticipate them, act quickly and save their lives, the lives of their loved ones and their assets needed to continue their activities in the aftermath of a disaster."The early warning system will significantly modify the capacities of communities to respond to different disasters: floods, droughts, storms, or epidemics; and this is fundamental to generate interaction links in the different communities", says Hector Guex, Director of Programmes and Operations for the Paraguayan Red Cross.The road to that resilient future is already underway. According to Guex, the strategy proposed by the Paraguayan Red Cross is based on three components: the incorporation of technology; education; and the generation of trust through community participation mechanisms.Technology and Education: Pillars of preparednessIn a resilient community, the use of accessible technological tools would allow the whole community to receive information in real time, through the channels of their choice."To build the early warning system we have identified which communication channels people use, and from which sources they receive or could receive information about weather-related disasters that could affect the whole community", explains Jorge Olmedo, a Paraguayan Red Cross volunteer."For example, in the Divino Niño neighbourhood there is a community radio station that functions as the official channel to alert the community in case of a disaster".Education also plays a central role in the path to climate resilience. In the future we dream of, training in first aid and fire prevention would transform the population into agents of their own safety.Trust and community engagementTo reach this resilient future, collaboration between the Red Cross and communities is key to building trust and shared responsibility.“With the Red Cross volunteers, the first task we did was to assess the whole area, the families, the infrastructure and also a meeting with the entire community about what are the most frequent concerns and threats”, recalls Domingo, a neighbour and community leader in Santa Ana.After gathering this information, the community is organizing itself into committees that the Red Cross is advising on how to be alerted and prepared to respond to the arrival of a potential disaster.This cohesion not only improves early action, it also promotes collaboration and general well-being."Every time it rains we tell each other everything in the group chat because there are many houses where the roofs are blown off and then we go to help the family with the storm. When it rains we are already in alert", says Ruth, a resident of the Barcelona II community.Making health care and future dreams possibleIn resilient communities, health care would be a priority even in emergency situations, to ensure that, in the face of a flood, the community would have access to health care even if they have to mobilise to shelters."Our main action would be to get a mobile clinic to provide health care where the community is, so that they don't have to move, as that is the biggest difficulty in emergency situations", says Jorge Olmedo, a volunteer in the Asunción branch.Turning the resilient futures envisioned by the people of Santa Ana and Barcelona II into reality is a task that no community, no organization and no country can carry out on its own.Aware of this, the Paraguayan Red Cross and several public institutions co-organize a national platform for multi-sectoral dialogue on early warning and early action, integrated by representatives from civil society, the humanitarian sector, academia and the scientific community; and other organizations working in disaster risk management at the local or national level.This space promotes disaster risk awareness, detection, observation, monitoring, analysis and forecasting; dissemination and communication of warnings and the strengthening of emergency preparedness and response capacities."The climate crisis is leaving its mark on our lives and is a challenge that transcends generations", concludes Director of Programmes and Operations Hector Guex. "We need to set our sights and efforts on creating better conditions for future generations".Learn more about IFRC's Early Warning and Early Action initiatives:Early Warning, Early ActionEarly Warning for AllGlobal Climate Resilience ProgrammeAnticipation Hub